Developer presents revisions to plan for New Haven's Chapel West apartment development (video)

Joe Amarante, Register Staff

Published
12:00 am EDT, Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Randy Salvatore points to revised elements of his Chapel West apartment proposal at the October meeting of the Dwight Central Management Team.
Joe Amarante/Register

Randy Salvatore points to revised elements of his Chapel West apartment proposal at the October meeting of the Dwight Central Management Team.
Joe Amarante/Register

Image
1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

Randy Salvatore points to revised elements of his Chapel West apartment proposal at the October meeting of the Dwight Central Management Team.
Joe Amarante/Register

Randy Salvatore points to revised elements of his Chapel West apartment proposal at the October meeting of the Dwight Central Management Team.
Joe Amarante/Register

Developer presents revisions to plan for New Haven's Chapel West apartment development (video)

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN -- Stamford developer Randy Salvatore's bold bid to build a 136-unit apartment complex from Chapel and Howe streets to Dwight Street brought a revised architect's rendering in his third pitch to members of the Dwight Central Management Team Tuesday night, one that included some compromise on the plan's details.

While the project has wide support generally, opposition to some elements of the Chapel West proposal was laid out in a handout from a few local critics, who held that the project was rushed, that it wasn't properly presented to the Dwight community team, that it would remove a historic building at 1249 Chapel St. and wouldn't conform to a 2006 master plan for the area, that there were too many (or few) parking spaces included and that the Board of Zoning Appeals should put off next week's decision on 10 zoning variances that are needed.

Salvatore, whose RMS Companies has developed hotels and more than 1,000 units of housing in Fairfield County, said he's known as a man of his word but he's being careful to not promise more than is economically feasible.

"If I say I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it," said the 42-year-old state Builder of the Year recipient, whose grandmother grew up in New Haven. Salvatore said he also has been involved with New Haven because his brother is a third-year graduate student at Yale and lives on Dwight Street.

Salvatore noticed the property, he said, and happened to get a random email flyer from a broker on it.

He said he's willing to delay submission of his full plan to the City Plan Commission from October to November to continue dialogue with community members "as long as the input is with the intention of having a positive effect." But attorney Carolyn Kone said next week's BZA action is not likely to be postponed.

Salvatore also pointed to accommodations in the plan that include more brick face on the corners of the wood-frame exterior of the building and new canopies and windows on Chapel that appear to be a retail area when they actuallly hide parking behind the wall inside the first floor of the building.

But he insisted the historic house on Chapel would need to move or be razed for the project to work, although RMS would rehab two houses on Dwight Street.

As he has said repeatedly to city and community members, Salvatore told the meeting, which had swelled this month to more than three dozen people because of the project: "This is an entirely privately financed development. We're not looking for any tax incentives, any rebates, any government grants... This is poor private financing on this project, which clearly says a lot for what you guys have done for this area."

Salvatore had done a quick presentation before the executive committee of the group in August and followed it up with another look at his plans at the group's meeting in September. But Tuesday's was the first look at revised plans for the apartment building with the DCMT, where members and residents could ask questions and register opinions.

"Is it perfect? Absolutely not," said Salvatore. "No plan is going to be perfect... What we're trying to do is balance the needs of all the community, and making the project economically feasible."

Salvatore said the studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units would be priced "well below 360 State Street," the still-new high-rise blocks south on Chapel Street. He was asked about a Stamford complex he built that was hit with negative reviews online, and explained that his company had sold its controlling interest and a management company brought it in had dropped the ball. (He said that wouldn't happen here.) He also told critic Olivia Marston that banks wouldn't finance the project with fewer parking spaces, and he wouldn't build it with as few as 35 spaces.

Today's Top Insider StoriesOur journalists provide in-depth analysis and reporting about the people, places and issues that matter most to you. Subscribers get access to all of their comprehensive coverage.Stories from Insider